Modern Homebrew Recipes (38 page)

Variations:
It’s a fun though experiment to contrast this beer with the Czech dark lager styles, as well as the Munich
dunkel.
This beer is decidedly hoppier with more of the roasted character and less Munich and crystal malts. If you want to make something a little closer to most current commercial examples, you can back off the Carafa Special III, decrease the IBUs to the mid- to upper-20s, and increase the Caramunich. Some prefer a bigger Munich malt character, so you can have up to equal parts Pils malt and Munich malt. The beer will be much maltier than commercial examples, but very good regardless.

TRADITIONAL BOCK

It seems that everyone likes the maltiness of a
doppelbock,
but for me, I like a slightly smaller beer with the same flavors and increased drinkability. A traditional dark
bock
fills that bill.

Style:
Dunkles Bock (Classic BJCP Style)

Description:
A stronger (17°P) dark German lager with rich malty flavors of deeply toasted bread crusts with light caramel accents.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Step mash, double decoction, mashout, dark grains added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

131 F (55C) 10 minutes

149°F (65°C) 60 minutes

Pull 1/3 thick decoction, boil 15 minutes, remix

158°F (70°C) 15 minutes

Pull thin decoction, boil 5 minutes, remix

168°F (76°C) 15 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (32 L)

Boil length:

90 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

48°F (9°C), then lager at 32°F (0°C) for 4 months

Sensory description:
A richly malty beer that retains drinkability with supportive bitterness. Dark bread crusts, toast, and a little dark fruit flavor make the beer complex without being heavy or full-bodied.

Formulation notes:
The rich flavors of dark Munich malt are what gives this beer its characteristic flavor, but the intensity is tempered a bit with light Munich malt. Try as you may, it just doesn’t really taste as malty if you use nothing but light Munich. Trying to compensate by adding crystal malts and such could give it more color and flavor, but it would tend to have a sweeter instead of maltier flavor.

Variations:
An infusion mash at 154°F (68°C) would work, but some additional color malt might be needed.

BLONDE DOPPELBOCK

This beer is a paler version of the more common
doppelbock,
which should have a starting gravity of at least 18°P (1.072). In general, when there are pale and dark versions of the same style, the paler versions are a little drier and hoppier than the darker ones. That’s true here as well; the beer shouldn’t come across as sweet as a
doppelbock
can sometimes be.

Style:
Doppelbock (pale) (New BJCP Style)

Description:
Basically this style is a scaled up
helles bock
with a stronger malt presence and a touch fewer hops to allow the malt to be even more prominent in the balance.

Ingredients:

Water treatment:

RO water treated with ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons

1 tsp CaCl
₂
in mash

Mash technique:

Step mash, mashout, crystal malt added at
vorlauf

Mash rests:

131°F (55°C) 15 minutes

145°F (63°C) 30 minutes

158°F (70°C) 30 minutes

168°F (76°C) 20 minutes

Kettle volume:

8.5 gallons (30 L)

Boil length:

90 minutes

Final volume:

6.5 gallons (25 L)

Fermentation temp:

50°F (10°C) 2 weeks

32°F (0°C) 20 weeks

Sensory description:
Deep golden color. Rich bready, toasty, and malty aroma with a chewy, malty finish. Warming alcohol. Very light hops late. Clean fermentation profile.

Formulation notes:
A richer, more full-bodied and stronger
maibock
. The
bock
yeast helps make this a malty beer. Enough hops present to keep it from seeming overly sweet.

Variations:
Doppelbocks
can go very high in gravity. You could take it to the extreme by trying to make something similar to an EKU 28, but you’d have to have a very high starting gravity of about 1.112 (28°P).

¹
Green beer refers to post-primary fermentation beer that has not been sufficiently conditioned and matured (it doesn’t have anything to do with St. Patrick’s Day). Green beer tends to be hazy, and is not considered ready to drink. It has immature flavors that have not yet melded together, and may have noticeable yeast fermentation byproducts still present (acetaldehyde, diacetyl, various sulfur compounds, etc.) as well as the taste of yeast that has not yet been separated from the beer. One of the main goals of lagering is to transform green beer into stable, mature beer, suitable for consumption.

8. FAVORITE BELGIAN RECIPES

“Belgium is the Disneyland of the beer world.”

—Charlie Papazian,
The Complete Joy of Homebrewing

If I could choose only one country in which to drink beer, it would have to be Belgium. I’ve been there several times, and the experience never gets old. The people a very friendly and take genuine pride in their beer culture. The first time I visited, a stern-looking customs agent took my passport and asked, “business or pleasure?” I thought about it for a second and said, “Beer.” He immediately smiled, and he said, “That’s the best reason!”

In the United States, we like to think we’ve made great strides in educating service professionals and consumers about beer. But in Belgium, beer seems to be in their collective DNA. Not only do the Belgians want to serve you a great beer, they want to serve it to you in the proper glass. Not just the proper type of glass either, but a logo glass from the brewery (preferably for the exact beer).

I once found myself in a tiny hotel bar in a very small town in Belgium. It was so small that they had only eight beers available, but the selection was very well chosen. When I saw they had the St. Bernardus 12, I ordered it immediately. The owner apologized and said that all those
glasses were in use, and asked if I would like to wait. She of course meant that she didn’t have any of the logo glasses that specific beer available, not that she didn’t have any glassware. When I asked if I could get the beer in a similar, albeit not-branded chalice, she shot me a pained look. So I had an Orval while waiting for the correct glass. And yes, both beers were delicious and an international incident was avoided.

The thing I like best about Belgian beers is that they are so drinkable. They tend to be well-attenuated, which makes them dry and nicely drinkable. The Belgians call this
digestible
and say that even strong beers shouldn’t upset your stomach. Combine this digestibility with large flavor profiles, and you have a recipe for great beers you can enjoy at any time of the year.

When Americans ask me about trying to find rare and expensive Belgian beers, I advise them to save their money for a plane ticket to Belgium. The beers are much cheaper there, the food is great, and the scenery is beautiful (and the chocolate isn’t bad either).

The following recipes are inspired by some of my favorite beers from Belgium, many of which I only discovered or sampled fresh while in the country. My goal is to make beer inspired by or as a tribute to these great beers, not something that is an exact replica. Belgians admire and value creativity, and don’t expect all breweries to be producing beers that taste the same.

•
Heather
– I put this recipe together when making a beer for my friend Heather, whose favorite beer is Leffe Blond. It’s a traditional Belgian Blond ale that’s smaller and less aggressive than a
tripel.

•
The Big O
– This is a reimagining of Orval as a stronger beer. Many people have successfully made beer similar to a standard Orval, and I’ve tasted Orval’s lower alcohol beer, but I haven’t heard of them trying a stronger version (thus this recipe)

•
Belgian Dark Strong
– One of my favorite styles, this style is very broad with many different interpretations. I’ve made several versions, including some that are inspired by Westveterlen and Rochefort. This one is more like St Bernardus 12, which is probably my favorite example that is commonly available in the US.

•
Am I Blue?
– To show the range of the style, I made a version inspired by Chimay Blue. It’s drier and spicier than the other maltier Belgian Dark Strong recipe.

•
The Forbidden Beer
– Hoegaarden makes a beer that I don’t normally see imported in the US:
Verboden Vrucht
(forbidden fruit). It’s a fruity, sweet, malty, and fairly strong beer.

•
The Gnome
– A visit to Brasserie d’Achouffe inspired me to try to make a La Chouffe-like strong artisanal blonde ale that’s wicked dry with a light spritz of coriander freshness.

•
Bière de Garde
– This beer style can come in different colors and strengths, but I prefer the average strength amber to brown versions the best since it has more nuanced flavors to go with the malty balance of the beer.

•
Odds and Ends Saison
– I’m kind of picky about
saisons,
so I resisted making them until I felt I had figured them out. Discussions with my fellow club member Steve Fletty helped me finally take the plunge, and this recipe is the delicious result.

•
Dubbel
– This was the first all-grain beer I brewed, as I had wanted to make a
dubbel
but couldn’t find the right kind of extracts. Now. Fortunately, we have more extract options available. I present two versions of this recipe, the Traditional Homebrew Dubbel version where the flavor primarily comes from specialty grains, and the Modern Homebrew Dubbel where the syrups drive the flavor profile.